Remember when President Obama quietly removed an anti-slavery provision from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement? [1] Not long after the White House invited Thailand to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the AP reported the country was relying on slave labor to ship shrimp to the U.S. And it’s unlikely Thailand’s billion-dollar slave industry would prevent it from joining the TPP considering that Obama previously removed an anti-slavery provision from the TPP and also allowed Vietnam to join the partnership despite its flourishing slave trade. “The United States ‘would welcome with open arms’ Thailand’s ruling junta wanting the country to participate in the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact without waiting for the return of a full democratic government to the country, the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Thailand said,” the Bangkok Post reported. [4] Thailand has been under a military dictatorship with severe restrictions on free speech since 2014, and if that won’t stop the White House from inviting the country to join the TPP, the slavery in Thailand won’t either. “The provision, which bars countries that engage in slavery from being part of major trade deals with the U.S., was written by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.),” the Huffington Post reported in May. [3] “At the insistence of the White House, Menendez agreed to modify his language to say that as long as a country is taking ‘concrete’ steps toward reducing human trafficking and forced labor, it can be part of a trade deal.” [2] The results? Now global slavery is thriving….
